


Before The Ship

by BabyPom



Series: On The Ship [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: I kill basically everyone by the end, I'm Not Really Sure..., Warning: Shattered Remains of Gems being used as an Energy Source, inventive swear word, kind-of horror?, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-09 07:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13476534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyPom/pseuds/BabyPom
Summary: The Story of Another Group Of Gems in the Gempire. Their Story is not a happy one, but it must be told.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ( This appears to be a slight side story, so I have it posted as a separate piece. I don’t think it’s necessary to read the rest of it to understand this, but it may help? I don’t really know? Only this chapter was already written + plus a plan- but I really liked the ideas past me had so I’ll write the rest of this.)

After the disaster that was earth, all rebellions had been quickly crushed, the diamonds unwilling to just leave it to die out by itself.

So Nephrite, despite her mainly loyal feelings to the diamonds, would never ever ever have voiced any of these slightly niggling thoughts to anyone, out of fear of it being interpreted as rebellion, and herself and her crew being crushed.

She could not do that to Nephrite, or Nephrite, or Nephrite, or the sole Peridot in their crew. Their survival was more important than sharing these thoughts.

At least that was what she had once thought.

The Peridot was on their crew for a reason- the last Nephrite of their group had been lost, shattered in a freak accident, a few centuries ago, and eventually they’d had to admit that they needed a replacement.

The Peridot had been very excited for a few months, back at the research facility that she had been in before being transferred, a few of her friends had been working on a secret project- one that would revolutionise their ships she said.

Peridot hadn’t worked on it herself though. She was a little too clumsy for development, but still good enough to not be crushed for defectiveness. All Peridots that were stationed permanently outside of the bases were all slightly clumsy.

She was happy for Peridot because she would meet one of these friends when they delivered the new equipment- only referred to as the RPEC so far in whispers. Still, Nephrite was nervous, the Peridots from the research facilities were infamous for their over the top loyalty to their diamonds. She supposed it was a given, seeing how often they had very obsessive personalities.


	2. Chapter 2

Peridot was excited, and Nephrite found this quietly amusing and cute. Peridot hadn’t met another Peridot in such a long time that Nephrite felt second hand happiness for her.

Nephrite didn’t know what she would ever do if she was separated from her follow Nephrites for that long.

Peridot was waiting at the door with her handheld screen tapping on. It probably would have been easier for her to do her work at a proper workstation instead of here on her portable device, but as long as Peridot got it done eventually and on time, Nephrite didn’t really care.

Finally the door connecting their ship to the ship station next to them opened. Peridot-From-The-Research-Station came in, taller than Nephrite due to experimental limb enhancers that she got from her higher rank.

“I will require the assistance of your Peridot to bring the new engine in. Then in 10 hours time I will require all members of your ship in your conference room in order to explain this.”

“I will pass on the instructions.”

Peridot-From-The-Research-Station brought their Peridot with her out into the space station, likely to go find the engine. Nephrite was annoyed at them not saying goodbye, she supposed it couldn’t be helped. 

Peridots were made to be efficient after all, instead of friendly like the Nephrites. It’s not their fault.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (There is a moment in everyone’s life when they take a look at what they are doing, and think to themselves: “What the fuck I am writing.” I Had That Moment during this fic.)

The new engine had been installed, and the Nephrites were all waiting patiently- well not really patiently, more like excitedly but trying to hide it.

Finally, exactly on time to the second, the Peridots came in. Their Peridot went over to stand in the spot that had been left for her among them.

As The Peridot From The Research Station did a few things on her screens at the front of the room, their Peridot whispered to them.

“You’ll love the new engine- I don’t what it is yet, but it’s really cool, and it should be great to drive. Although,m it does make a really weird sound.”

Peridot From The Research Station made a tinging noise with her metallic fingers, catching their attention, and started to talk.

Still a took a few seconds for the Nephrites to completely shut up.

 

But then Peridot from the ship spoke at length. To begin with questions would be asked almost every sentence, but one by one the Nephrites shut up.

Shocked in to a horrified silence.

The RPEC was made out of shattered gems.

Powered by shattered gems.

Powered by the power of the shattered gems, forced to fuse together, attempting to reform but never quite succeeding.

Their ship was going to be powered by shattered gems.

And that weird noise Peridot spoke about. 

That was their screams.

“But it’s nothing to worry about- There’s only a 80% chance of it having any kind of sentience.”

Finally their Peridot fell silent too- unable to question- unable to answer back- unable to express her horror, her distaste at what they had done.

 

Peridot from the Research Station gave a smile- the first one the Nehprites had seen from a Peridot other their own. Except it didn’t look excited or happy at a job gone well. It looked predatory.

“I assume from your silence that you are impressed by our invention. Don’t worry- this is the normal response for awe-inspiring things. I will take my leave now. Leave with your ship whenever you are ready.”

She left.

And they stayed.

Not moving,

frozen in place.

 

And so it continued in  
Silence  
Silence  
Silence

Silence

Silence

 

Silence

 

Silence

 

Until their Peridot spoke finally, “ “I’ll go and start up the old engines. We should probably leave now.” Yet she didn’t move.

“Not the new ones?” Only one Nephrite- the navigator- responded at all.

“I don’t think we’ve had enough practise with them to use them in such close proximity to a space station.” Finally Peridot left the room.

The Navigator went over to her station, a small circle appeared at the top of her screen to tell her the engines were on. Although she was the navigator, the Pilot was not yet here, not yet back, so she steered them out and away, and set them on course to the expanse of space that they are cataloguing. Nephrite teams are scouts after all. It was lonely up on the flight deck- yet she didn’t want to see anyone. And no one else came up until the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

She tried to remember the noise, the noise that the engine made. She assumed it sounded like that because it was made of something similar to gems

Not that it was made out of gems

Not that it had been made of loyal gems

Gems that should have been put to rest, but instead where kept artificially alive, in what she could only assume was perpetual agony

As much as she loved her friend Peridot

She couldn’t say that she knew she was perfect

Her friend couldn’t be perfect

She was acting as a necromancer, a horrific one with no moral compass

How could the diamonds stand for this

But she knew in her heart a nagging doubt

A nagging doubt that told her that they didn’t care. She wondered if they cared so little that Pink Diamond had been turned in to one of these

She shook the thought off

Traitorous thoughts were a sin, A sin against the Diamonds. All Hail Yellow Diamond.


	5. Chapter 5

The door is locked against them.

Until I know the truth, I cannot let them come in to see the RPEC, even though none of my Nephrite colleagues have tried to do so yet. 

My Diamond, I swear to you I hope that they don’t try to enter the room

Until I know it is safe for them.

Nephrites are nice, they are good, but they can be too sensitive, I cannot be the one to cause them to freeze in their movements until they process it. 

I need to find out which screams are heard here.

 

The screen i eopened slwoly and hesitantly, but I had to do this. Pastiong a false smile and happiness onto myself, I typed in the code, and the calling address.4

“Peridot, Praise the diamonds.

“Praise the diamonds. How is the RPEC treating you”

“Excellently. I have a question about it. “

“Anything, I know everything abut Yellow Diamond’s Peridots’s invention. “

“Do you know who made up the RPEC.”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if their were any Nephrites in the mix. I feel my Nephrites would be proud if there was. There’s one too few Nephrites here, and there numbers would be made up if there was.”

“I can tell you it is in the positive. In fact, Nephite Facet 2F4 Cut 7XF, a former comrade of them, is in the mix.”

“What??!”

“Is there a problem?”

“No… no nothing.. Not at all! My Nephrites will be proud definitely. There colleague has returned, to have returned even after death to help them in them for the glory of Yellow Diamond.”

“Was this all?”

“Yes, thank you for answering my question.”

“We will speak again. Goodbye.”

Well Coprolite, this was worse than she thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Peridot didn’t leave the engine room.

She wanted to-diamonds how she wanted to.

The noise that while it was installed was merely an amusement was now an echoing reminder of how she didn’t really know her friend after all. 

What kind of self-respecting Peridot would do this to the dead?

Apparently a perfect one would.

If being imprefect meant she knew this was wrong she would make that sacrifice a hundred times.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t.

If one of the Nephrites entered, she didn’t know how they’d respond to it. They could freeze again, they could do anything-

Even more so if they ever found out who was in it.

She couldn’t do it to them.

They may not be her gem, her cut, her anything- but they served together, under the same diamond, for the same mission. She’d grown close to them despite herself.

She could stay here, keep the doors locked, keep them from the area of the ship where they could possibly hear it- she would stay here in this area of heartbreak.

She could do it for them.


	7. Chapter 7

The doors were locked, all the rooms for engineering and the streets around them were sealed off to the rest of the ship- and she had coded a programme to tell her whenever someone approached her secretly forbidden area, so she could go out and meet them and turn them away before they punched their way through.

When Nephrite had work to do that required stuff from her domain, she would find it already on her workstation dragged up by one of the robinoids.

There was no reason for them to come down here, and thus none of the Nephrites did. She didn’t receive any messages from them- mainly because she’d disabled non-essential communications down to engineering, and they didn’t come and see her.

Not that she expected them to,

The fact that she cared about them over her fellow peridots was her issue, and she didn’t expect them to have the same defect that allowed them to care for those outside their own kind and the diamonds.

She didn’t expect it, but she was still disappointed. 

A small part of her hoped they’d at least try, but even if they didn't care, she could still do it for them. That’s how she knew she was doing the right thing.

Peridot pulled up a work screen. She may have been kicked out to become a technician because she failed at designing, but she could at least try. Something should be able to shield that ringing other than just distance- she had to at least try to find some way to stop it from tainting the entire area it was in with it’s screams of pain.


	8. Chapter 8

They aren’t coming in.

I thought maybe they would want to see the engine- out of morbid curiosity, out of exploration, out of anything. Or even just to see her. 

But they didn't. They didn't even come near her half of the ship, they stayed as far away as they could (She would know, she was tacking them using the in ship sensors. )

She felt betrayed, but she didn’t know why. They don’t care, do they?

But at the same time, there was gladness, if they don’t come down., it’s less work for her, she doesn’t need to monitor and keep the doors locked if they don’t come down here. She could wander around the ship herself, go and see them again- she doesn’t need to guard it.

If they don’t care, she can still care about them

The door unlocked, she had the chance to walk around. But still, she didn't. She felt obligated to guard this monstrosity of an invention. She would spend the rest of her days here, guarding it, keeping it company of some of it in there had consciousness. SHe couldn't leave to it to suffer alone.


End file.
